A BOUTIQUE gin distillery will open in Fremantle’s West End.
The Republic of Fremantle will produce craft gin from a Pakenham Street warehouse, using “botanicals” like backyard rosemary, fennel and WA sandalwood, which are suited to Perth’s climate.
Fremantle locals Jason Townes, Matt Giudice and John McVeigh hope their new venture will tap into “gin tourism” and the worldwide boom in boutique gin.
Townes and Giudice have invested in the Fremantle hospitality scene for years and have stakes in Bread in Common, Strange Company and Ronnie Nights.
Mr Townes says the company’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Freo folk thinking they’re different from the rest of WA. “We don’t feel like we’re a suburb of Perth; we feel like we’re the City of Fremantle,” he says.
• Jason Townes with some of his favourite gins. Photo by Alice Angeloni
The Republic of Fremantle will have a bar, restaurant and hold gin-making workshops.
“Our focus is creating a place that’s relevant to Fremantle people on an everyday basis—creating a place where we like to go,” Mr Townes says.
“But we’re firmly of the mind that this is great for visitors to Fremantle too.”
Mr Townes doesn’t think that Fremantle has too many bars and recalls walking down High Street when it was laden with drinking holes.
“We’re not getting back to where we were 20 years ago,” he says.
“People don’t have to trust us—they just have to look at what we’ve done previously.”
by ALICE ANGELONI
Another drinking hole for fremantle. When is this stupid council going to realise that having more places to get drunk at does not attract tourists to fremantle
@Mike Sumich: When will stupid residents like you realise that Fremantle town centre is a sorry shadow of its former self thanks to paranoia about the late night trade and the benefits that trade delivers to the local economy? When will misguided people like you learn that alcohol consumption in Australia has been falling steadily since the 1970s and that not everyone visits establishments like this to get drunk but instead drink responsibly by choosing QUALITY over quantity? People like you Mike are the reason why this state is embarrassingly behind the east coast and why nothing changes in this boring state. Stop your whinging, embrace progress, tourism- and the jobs this industry creates.
This is awesome !! 😀 Don’t know about what Mike’s comment before me, but I definitely think that more things to do and try in freo is always a good to bring people over.. Already have a list of people to invite 😉 <3
When is the opening date?